Disaster Assistance Update More than $5.1 Million Approved for Disaster Assistance

EAGLE PASS, Texas -- State, federal, local officials and voluntary agencies continue to help Texans recover from severe storms and tornadoes of April 21-24. To date, more than $5.1 million in disaster aid has been approved for residents and businesses.

Recovery summary information is as follows:

Nearly 1,200 individuals have applied for assistance by calling the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) toll-free registration number at: 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 1-800-462-7585. Lines are open seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., until further notice. Multilingual operators are also available. Those affected by the storms can also register online at www.fema.gov. The deadline to apply for assistance is July 2, 2007.

More than $3.1 million has been approved to help disaster-affected Texas with temporary housing and home repairs.

Nearly $466,000 has been approved for the repair or replacement of personal property and disaster-related transportation, medical, dental and funeral expenses.

More than 849 damage inspections have been completed. Those who may be awaiting an inspector are reminded to keep their appointments to speed recovery assistance.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has issued 604 applications to homeowners and 156 applications to businesses. SBA has approved nearly $1.6 million in low-interest, disaster loans.

An SBA Disaster Loan Outreach Center is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Denton County at the Denton Civic Center, 321 East McKinney. SBA customer service representatives are on hand to answer questions about SBA's disaster loan program and help individuals fill out their application. FEMA Individual Assistance specialists are also on site to help those who may have questions about their applications.

More than 1,340 people have visited Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) to: talk face to face with a recovery specialists, get help filling out an SBA loan application and check the status of their applications.

DRCs are located in the following counties and are open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
The centers are closed on Sundays. The Tulia Center will end operations on May 26 at 6 p.m.

Maverick County at Nick Carr Youth Center, 253 Ruela Drive, in Eagle Pass Moore County at Cactus Community Center, North Dr. and Sherri St., in Cactus Swisher County at Tulia City Hall, 127 SW 2nd St. #300l, in Tulia (ending operations on Sat., May 26 at 6 p.m.)

People living or working in the four (Denton, Maverick, Moore and Swisher) disaster-designated counties whose jobs have been affected by recent severe storms may be eligible for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) from the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). Those who think they may be are eligible can call the TWC at 800-939-6631.

Claims must be filed by June 2, 2007 for persons living or working in Maverick, Moore and Swisher Counties. The deadline for Denton County is June 7, 2007.

The State Bar of Texas has established a Disaster Hotline at 800-504-7030 to assist people in Denton, Maverick, Moore and Swisher counties with basic legal questions. These may include advice on replacing lost documents, housing-landlord-tenant disputes, consumer rights ...